Cool photo to look at. I see the caterpillar jo woolf, funny how the human eye finds images within images. We have a mottled tile in our bathroom and I am always finding different critters in the mix of the random design. Wonderful timing in taking this photo as the light plays a dance over the ice.

My wife is also very good at picking out the shapes of critters in photos. I enjoy her observations. This falls is somewhat hidden in its canyon and the sun gets in to it only briefly. Nest time I visit, I will try to get there earlier in the morning when there might be a chance of the sun shining directly on the scene.

You know, Scott, I understand the waterfall, the ice and some of the processes that take place between the two, but I’m so intrigued by the fact that such things can be so beautiful and yet never really on display. Outside of the animals, my tracks were the only ones that led to this waterfall all winter, yet it’s a thing of great beauty. Perhaps they are special rewards for those who explore out of the way places in out of the ordinary times.

Yes, I’m sure that snow melt has added to the ice column. There are probably many factors that compose the whole. Along one of the highways not far from here one can see cliffs of ice falls that come from seeps and also from snow melt. The are flatter than this, but quite tall.

We sometimes have scenes like this in the hill country and west Texas, where highways have been cut through limestone cliffs. Especially in a year with good ground water, the seeps can create marvelous formations. Yours have a better setting than an interstate highway, though!

Yes, we have those too. There are a couple of places about 20 miles from here. Interestingly, this year they have not buit up much ice, but this waterfall is at a higher elevation and is in a narrow canyon sheltered from the sun and the ice is very heavy at its base.

Do you know if American Dippers use this falls for nesting? If you were to go back in the summer you could perhaps catch a family of dippers in action, assuming they weren’t totally concealed behind the veil of water. I found a nest in a very similar site located in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.